Author
Topic: Project/Beater "boozer" (Read 1043 times)

Well life has a funny way of changing things around. In the middle of supporting my wife's bad Mustang habits, trying to build a tow/rig Cummins Dodge W350, and fighting with a falling apart Featherweight car trailer.... I finally lost my temper. Let me elaborate for those who enjoy others misery.

This spring/summer has been one stupid problem after another with attempting to tow "anything" when required. (almost daily it seems) I need a nice cab for my W350 Project...had to run to Colorado to get it. My wife has been running standing mile races/competitions with her Mustang...More towing. Then the autocross, yet more towing....then ranch/farm life. Patch is tired, the engine/trans is up to the job, the rest, keeps falling off or failing. Then there is my old car trailer.... first the surge brake master died, then it had a brake line issue, and now it decided to have a tude and the brakes n longer work at all due to about 4 assorted problems.

Then there is the spare tow rig the F150 eco boost.... or as I call it the "Eco Poop" The 5mpg towing wonder that has more dumb quirks than a Red Headed Meth Junkie Speed skater on gravel. Praying for a hail storm as all Eco Boost owners eventually do...

So one day I am at the gun shop venting my irritation at everything and I decide ya know what I have a solution. A new car trailer, a new pickup, and HAH I win. 15 min latter I solved all my problems.... so on with the "project"

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

As I left the gun shop I was thinking the following. I need a 1 ton truck or close, a Gasoline engine that runs on E85, A Front Dana 60, a real floating rear axle...a floor shifted transfer case, locking hubs...I then walked outside and there it sat. The owner was getting out of the truck, I commented it sure was a clean F250, he said "want to buy it" I said how much....he says "whatever I owe is fine, I need it sold today.... I think "Lord you have a sense of humor, (another Ford) and I get the hint" So, he called his bank, he gave me his number, I wrote a check. No kidding 15 entire minutes after the thought I needed a truck... I owned the truck, and gave him a ride to the bank to get the title.

I bought a car trailer 45 min latter.... Two days latter we took this picture...

The above pic was taken in Wisconsin, hauling home my old Bronco. Total trailer weight was 9700lbs Notice the bagging rear springs on Boozer? We hauled a old E150 Conversion van up too Wisconsin for a friend...that was even worse abuse on the rear springs...more on this in a minute.

Boozer averaged 10.01mpg for the entire trip on E85. $2.02 a gallon. It runs along at about 12-13mpg empty for reference on E85.

The 6.2L engine, 4.30 Gears, 35" BFG's and the 6speed auto make a fine combo. Never had any problems going as fast as I liked, towed up a 5% grade at 72mph and just flat worked.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

So, we decided after the trip home we like Boozer. It's comfortable, handles well, rides very decent, has plenty of power, and running E85 it tows cheaper than a oil burner. We are keeping it...

The new trailer I sold last week. (worked out well, he charged me to rent it for the trip so it wasn't a loss really) It was well built, nice winch/tool box and such... but the ball/wheel placement is typical of today's car trailers. WRONG. In the above pic It has 1500lbs on the hitch...NUTS. No wonder the springs hate life. Back the Bronco up on the trailer 3 inches, it wiggles and tows poorly. And still has 950lbs on the hitch.

Load the same Bronco on my Featherlight, 750lbs on the hitch, no bagging springs... tow it all day in a crosswind at 80 mph and it never wiggles. So, sold the trailer, rebuilding the Featherlight.

Boozer is under construction... So far its got a new "tune" done on a chassis dyno. On the Booze it will be around 400hp to the rear wheels once I free up the exhaust system a little. Yesterday on 87 octane it did 15mpg running to Lincoln at 80mph.

I just traded in the 2000 mile BFG all Terrains for some real tires. 35x12.5 General Mt's We have been running these tires on the farm trucks and they flat work, wear well, also very tough...and are quiet on the road. So I ordered 5 and will have them installed tomorrow.

A soft topper is in the plans as soon as can get a deal struck for a install and such at their facility in Colorado...

I need to bug Tate about a rear locker for the 10.5" .... I have a ARB I could toss in the front 60 on the shelf.

A 12K ish winch on the front, and some bumpers/real rock sliders and watch this thing turn into a semi capable off road adventure rig. It's going to MOAB/Colorado this fall to test the modifications. It can tow the Wife's Jeep out, and we can wheel them both.

I will update here as things develop. I guess we are building a bit of a tow rig/overlanding rig... that can hold its own in its daily chores as well.

BONUS...I will now get my Dodge done LoL

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

For anyone wondering BTW...that Bronco. It's a 514 Cubic inch, built C6,203/205 doubler, Dana 60 front with a Quaife Differential, Dana 60HD rear with Moly tubes, 35 spline Summer Bros shafts and a ARB...both geared 5.13. 4 wheel disks...Front suspension is a home brew 3link, rear is boring old functional leafs, running 40" MTR"s On board air/10K ramsey winch, and its so rusty I had to strap the hood and pass door on so they didn't fall off. Every stop we made on the way home I cleaned 10lbs of rust flake off the trailer and I spent most the drive avoiding traffic so as to not dust anyone with flying debri...I will post some rust pics latter for your amazement LoL

this truck,whats left of it will play a role in a M37 that can now be built.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

Yah Don......can't justify the expense of a diesel over the gas, or the $1.00 per gallon difference, or the cost to buy DEF or EGR delete for what amounts to very little difference economy loaded at 10k lbs. I have what.... $25k into this truck with 27K miles on it.

If we drove a lot of miles it might somehow pan out, but this truck might see 8k a year tops. For most of what we tow these days, the Mustang or the Jeep, it hardly knows it's behind it. The rest of the time it's saving a lot of expense.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

Yah Don......can't justify the expense of a diesel over the gas, or the $1.00 per gallon difference, or the cost to buy DEF or EGR delete for what amounts to very little difference economy loaded at 10k lbs. I have what.... $25k into this truck with 27K miles on it.

If we drove a lot of miles it might somehow pan out, but this truck might see 8k a year tops. For most of what we tow these days, the Mustang or the Jeep, it hardly knows it's behind it. The rest of the time it's saving a lot of expense.

My son has around 12K hyw miles on his Generals. The tires are on his Power Wagon. So far the wear is hardly noticeable which on a Power Wagon is impressive I feel. His has a Dana 80 rear swap with a Detroit also....He does rotate every 3k when he changes oil.

They have earned a great rep on gravel/rock. They do not chunk like BFG's and Goodyears.

I will keep you informed of my opinion towing and 90mph hyw running in the near future. Our set will see plenty of this in the next few weeks. Noise is a concern for me as I like my quiet cushy freeway cruises while listening to sounds of the ocean and other soothing experiences from the sound system.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

As mentioned I ordered 5 35x12.5 17" General Grabber X3's to replace the same size bfg All terrains that were brand new on the truck. (previous owner installed)

Problem #1 the fancy splined lug nuts on the truck require a special socket. That socket was in the glove box for the entire trip to Wisconsin. It's no longer anywhere in the truck (mystery where it went to honestly) This provided a challenge to the tire guy. Long story short, and 32 brand new McGaurd lug nuts latter, the issue is solved. I will be welding the special socket to the truck somewhere LoL

Problem #2 the new rubber is considerably taller/wider than the old BFG's These measure a true 35", the others closer to 33 actually. I have always known BFG to run a little short of their stated size, but that 2" created a small issue. The new 35's don't hit, but they would if used off road spiritedly. We will be addressing this sooner than latter I guess. *sigh

after a few miles of gravel/rock, pavement and dirt:

This is an entirely different truck now. The pavement ride is as good or better than the BFG. The tire man and I both noticed the difference in sidewall strength was noticeable in the tires side by side. Real world driving, gone is the sidewall sqirm ya felt at the exact same 70psi from the BFG's. Which given these are a much deeper more aggressive tread, I found that surprising. Both are 10ply tires, I guess these just have a better sidewall. Pavement noise at 80mph is not any different that I can tell. Time will tell if this changes....

Gravel/rock: These tires are so much better I am not even going to bother explaining. ZERO comparison.

Mud: I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but given the BFG has the mud performance of a drag radial, I am sure these will easily out perform them.

So that's this weeks modification, I will snap some pictures of the new rubber and toss one up latter. Now it's time to shop for a lift I guess. And some diff covers, and........oh yeah a 5th rim for the spare tire LoL

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

Not great, but good to average. I say that because they require rotation rather often. After rotation they will often act squirrly for a drive then settle in. Then they go for whatever distance (A few thousand miles) then start to bounce and shimmy a bit. That is the signal to rotate again.

Wear is also seemingly rapid, but it has been for every tire I have ever used on my truck. A real locker eats tires, but in my case is necessary because of all the off roading I use my truck for. Today for instance, I have to pull a 14K trailer all over the hills of my farm to pull another vehicle out of there.

I started my tire buying evolution last time looking to get the Generals like Norm purchased, but if anyone can remember, the sales people totally botched the sale, TWICE!

That led me to Mark over at national tire and the BFG's.

But, since I may now have to tow Spud, weighing 11,572, I will need to come out of the D load range tires and go up to E's, so likely, I'll follow with Norm and go with the generals

As a side note I ran almost nothing but General MT's in the 90's on my F250's I owned then. They were good then.

Don, I will be happy to update as they get more use. I have zero brand loyalty in tires whatsoever after the last decade or so.

Have you seen the new BFG MT? KM3 or some stuff. I looked at a set in a smaller size at the tire shop. Reminded me of the GoodYear duratrac which has a decent following for road use/expo guys. But it also unsold it's self right there. The tread pattern is not conclusive to local terrain at all. I know the Generals work, because my son has put them through hell on his Power Wagon with great results off road. And they so far have survived many a 80mph freeway cruise as well towing his boat. *6500lbs Also he's been off road in Colorado rocks/shale with no issues as well... so add the obviously better sidewalls and the price as well, they sold themselves. Now to see if I am impressed. *they are too small for my taste btw lol The truck would be so much more fun with 40's...but towing.

The entire concept of this truck is Keep it simple, keep it functional, enjoy owning it. To that end the Ford was the choice before I found this one...the straight axle, coil front suspension, Super Duty beef...large enough Fenders to swallow 35's....few more tweaks and it will be on to the using it part and building the M37.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

Yeah I saw that... Kinda makes me think of my wife. She'll back over something backing outta the garage and then just keep going. Her theory is "I've already messed up whatever it was so no point in getting out to see what it was until the truck is all the way outta the garage and I can then see what it was through the windshield."

So far all is going smoothly. Mileage has been a constant 14 ish empty on average. The front shocks are toast and I need to order some Bilsteins for it this next week. The General MT's have been working great in the soft field roads, gravel and pavement chores they are subject to. Almost ready for the first rotation (4000 miles) and no odd wear is noticeable.

Next planned upgrade is a soft topper and a spray on bed liner. A spare tire mount of some sort, and when time allows a new rear bumper. I also need to fab/buy a decent mount for a rifle or two. Also the .458 so-com pistol maybe.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

Boozer got a good workout this past week. 2,400 miles of road tripping. We ran the F250 85 mph from here to Denver, then over the assorted Mt passes and stopped in Glenwoodsprings Co. The following day down through Telluride, and on SW to Cortez and finally Mesa Verde. Got some 4x4 trail time in at the Canyons of the ancients, saw some great history, and then spent the following day at Mesa Verde Nat park.

14.4 ish mpg average for the trip. The General tires are at 10K miles, still wearing fine, no damage from the many miles of sharp rocks on the trails, and they are still running quiet as they were when new.

As soon as my shop in town has power again (storms last night) I will be rotating the tires. I can measure the tread depth against the brand new spare.

Yah Shawn and keep in mind the last 2500 ish miles I was doing my best to knock them out of alignment on every trail we could fit it on....and two we shouldn't have drove it on LoL

like this one....

TRN..... I saw a dude from Texas dragging a huge 5ver with a bass boat behind it up Monarch pass. We were at the summit and kay was taking pictures and he parked next to me. He opens his door gets out and says "Judging by the look on your face you think I am a idiot....and I would agree" and walks off LoL 6.2% grade, light rain, he look shook going up hill....

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

The plan is to remove the body or whats left of it. Then I will remove a cab/front clip from one of the M37's. I plan to then set that M37 cab on the Bronco frame. Then sit in my lawn chair and study it.

IF.... I can mate said body to said frame with a minimum of "franken looking" engineering....and wheel placement on the front vs fender alignment can be made to work...... well anyway you get the idea.

That will afford me a custom extended radius arm front coil suspension, a stout frame, A big block Ford, A Dana 60 reverse rotation front, with a Detroit, a HD 60 rear with a ARB/35 spline shafts C6/Np205 On Board air, and assorted other "goodies" in a proven reliable, well tested off road package. The M37's large fenders will swallow 40's with ease, and like 42 or larger is doable if I wanted.

If I can make the cab/front clip fit well I will lengthen the Broncos Frame, set the WB around 115" remodel a M37 Box to fit and call it stage one.

Once the bugs are worked out.... stage two would be a 750hp 6.2 L Ford with a whipple....and matching trans/transfer case.

When done.... I should have a very drive able, some what economic, reliable wheeling toy we could drive anywhere. If not..... well I will have lots of parts to use for something LoL

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

After about 12k miles, lots of towing, some road tripping and even some relaxing Colorado high country wheeling. Boozer has a new owner.

The decision to sell was made this morning when our middle step daughter slipped a cashiers check across the table at breakfast and said "I want to buy Boozer, that's my offer" "For that price you can borrow it when you need to tell you replace it."

So I will have to find something to drive every day

Guess the good news is...I made a few $$$ and don't have to worry about scratching it now LoL

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

This week has been a hassle. Our home has limited "water" because I am remodeling a bathroom for Kay that turned into a adventure. So we only have water in one bathroom ATM. Hopefully I can get that resolved tonight.

Then the Jury crap...I won't even start.

And on top of that, Kay who is NOT suppose to be lifting any weight or being too physical, has been cleaning out a building for her newest racing passion. A high performance burrow.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

LiL update..... Our daughter has been driving Boozer daily and not much has developed. The General tires are wearing wonderfully, the trucks performing as it should day/day.

Last week it got a new dyno "tune" to maximize hp/driveability on the E85 and its now doing a decent 415hp to the rear wheels. Other than a odd issue with one lockout hub not wanting to turn well, it's been trouble free. I tore apart the lockout again....can't find a problem, so since this time of year the hubs just stay locked anyway....fix it latter.

The real world 13.25mpg average (over 2500 miles) isn't too shabby either for as much time as she spends in 4x4 and in town driving.

I appreciate it has been a very trouble free ride. This leaves me more time for other aspects of life.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"

Glad it's doing so well for you. So do you have aftermarket stub axles in that? I've know of some contacting and jamming up the selector when the cap's tightened down all the way. could be something along those lines or not enough gasket material under the bezel spacing it out correctly?

Hi Tate..... Nah stock axles.. and I do suspect the gasket issue might be part of this problem. The plan for now is some new gaskets and a real close look again at everything. She is talking about a few mods after the holidays which made me consider keeping this thread semi alive. Her and her sisters are considering a Alaska road trip/adventure this summer. So a winch and other plans are being tossed around.

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Norm

Are you a prepper? "No, whats a prepper? I am just a mildly OCD farmer"